Twilight of a dead world
by ExiledValkyrie
Summary: Edward left and Bella moved on. Then the apocalypse hits.


Chapter 1

I thought when Edward left me was the worst thing that would ever happen. I completely shut down, worrying my family and the few friends I had made that I didn't drop when I was with Edward. It wasn't until Jacob and I got close and started spending time together that I began to realize how utterly ridiculous I was being. I couldn't believe I let them have that kind of power over me. However, I realised that even as I got over them that something stuck with me.

I didn't want to feel like that helpless little girl I felt like when I was with them ever again.

So I decided to speak to Charlie about it, completely shocking the man, because first: I was speaking more than one word at a time for the first time in months. And second: I was speaking to him about something personal, which I hadn't done before. Ever.

Either way, ten minutes after the conversation and he had promptly put me in a Yoga class to work on my balance.

It sucked at first. I felt like I was recovering from a long illness on top of my natural clumsiness. I was too skinny and sleep deprived with somewhat atrophied muscles so my stamina was shot all to hell. While I was working on Yoga, I began to eat more healthy balanced meals in order to put some weight on and keep up my energy. I also took up running in the mornings or evenings, sometimes both.

Charlie also began teaching me to shoot at a shooting range. Not just guns but a bow and arrows. He was an avid hunter and fisherman, so he taught me that too whenever the opportunity came up. And he meant the whole package, including tracking, trapping, skinning, butchering, preparing, preserving and storing the catch.

I fainted a lot until I got used to the blood. And tripped until the Yoga and practice allowed me to move through the woods quietly enough that I wouldn't scare the catch off.

It took a few months until I was proficient in all my current activities. I was healthier than I had ever been, and Charlie was looking for Martial Arts classes and wilderness survival classes for me to take, they didn't run in the winter, so he put me in a first aid class that included herbal plant remedies. I didn't mind. I asked Charlie to help me and that's what he was doing. But during that time I noticed something was off. My arm, the one James and Edward had bitten, had begun to ache more and more. At first I thought nothing of it, then I noticed that even on nights I didn't sleep well I didn't feel all that tired. It progressed until I realised that sleep was no longer a requirement for me. Oh, I could still do it if I wanted to, but it wasn't necessary. The longest I tried before I got bored was two weeks and I still wasn't tired. But I ran out of things to do around the house and didn't feel like going out so I started sleeping again. There were only so many books to read or things to clean.

Other things I noticed was that my senses were better. I could see farther and more clearly, smell a million times better, and my hearing was ridiculously strong. My mind felt sharp and clear and I could think of multiple things at once and my memory improved drastically. I also noticed that I was starting to be able run much, much faster for longer periods of time, and that things that should be too heavy for me felt like feather weights. It took actually took only a bit of effort before I lifted my truck like it was doing a wheelie.

Most might think the running thing was training, but when I could run five miles in 15-20 minutes and not be out of breath, feeling like that was an easy stroll, something was up.

It was after one particular bout of acheiness, this one hurt alot and lasted for days, spreading throughout my body, particularly my head, that the weirdest parts happened. Just before this bout started Jacob dropped my like a dead fish, and said I was too damaged to continue to be my friend, and he was tired of trying to fix me. I was pissed. Somehow, he had missed all the changes and activities off the past few months. But after the Cullens I knew I could handle it. He didn't want to remain friends, fine his loss. If he came crawling back, to bad. Fool me once and all that. I wasn't even going to bother telling them I already knew about their furry little problem. Subtle they were not.

Anyway once the pain finally stopped I noticed that things had changed once again. Most notably, the voices I was suddenly hearing. And then my need for food cut down. I still had to eat, but a good meal at least two or three times a week and I was all set. I could eat more if I wanted, but like the sleep thing it wasn't necessary. Then I realised I looked slightly different, higher cheekbones, highlights in my hair, color shifting eyes, I even woke up one morning to purple eyes, but nothing to drastic, just enough that I felt much prettier. Then my skin got tougher, it felt like normal skin, same temperature and all, felt like it had some give, but when experimenting I had to put all my effort into making a cut. Thank goodness Charlie didn't walk in and see that. That would have been very, very bad. It took awhile to notice the last two things.

Several months into my Martial arts training, the summer after I finished highschool, I finally took that wilderness survival course. I first noticed it when I got separated from the group I was with. I wondered where they were and wanted to find them. Somehow their location popped into my head and I found my way to them like I was following a pull complete with neon sign posts with arrows. Eventually that progressed into finding the slightest thing I wanted. Plants for medicine, missing socks, Charlie's keys. I knew where they were and how to get them the second I wanted to know.

The last thing was harder to hide. I swore I was moving things with my mind. The first time I was just reaching for my drink, and the glass kept moving away. It took a long time to get it under control.

Eventually, the changes stopped, and my arm stopped hurting. The scar even disappeared. I decided to write everything down to help me figure out what was going on. I came to the conclusion that Edward must not have sucked all the venom out and that altered my body so I had the best of both worlds. Apparently, I even got their gifts along with my own natural shield which turned out to be physical as well as mental. Edwards mind reading, which must be the voices I kept hearing, and I remembered being told that James was a tracker. I didn't even know that could happen. I did wonder if I could still have children or if I was immortal now. I decided I would have to wait and see. It wasn't something I wanted to try right now. I would come back to it later.

Time passed and I entered college as a double major in English and Criminal Justice. I did extremely well with my new gifts. I got faster and stronger as time went on. I went on dates, some turned long term others didn't. I also taught myself other things as the occasion arose. I taught myself lock picking after locking myself out of my dorm. I used them interchangeably with the key after that. I learned how to use the skins of the animals I hunted to make blankets or coats and such. I wanted to figure out tents next, I was going for trial and error. How to make bread and noodles and other things from scratch. I learned how to can and preserve food. I even decided to learn how to use a sword with Charlie. I never did tell him that I learned to play poker in back room tournaments, he would have lost his mind.

I thought when Edward left me was the worst thing that would ever happen. I thought it was the end of the world.

I sure was wrong, wasn't I?


End file.
